Raleigh Leaders Share Their Unique Vision in Campaign Event Videos
Video Objectives
Announce candidacy and raise awareness of key campaign issues
Document an in-person event for videos used across marketing channels
Record main presentation for both internal and audience-facing purposes
As it came time to launch their campaigns for Raleigh City Council, two candidates planned their respective campaign kick-off events.
And though their events served the same purpose, David Knight and Jonathan Melton took different approaches to their big event – and the video that would document it.
For his event, Knight focused on presenting his vision of improving the quality of life for the residents of the large and diverse district he represents. To reflect that focus on his message in his event video as well, our goal was to visualize it for his wide audience in a way that’s both informative and engaging.
In addition to footage of his speech and the event in general, we targeted a variety of constituents in attendance for unscripted testimonials that we guided with comfortable, strategic questions. This offered authentic proof points that came from multiple perspectives.
We also chose to create a montage of b-roll and stills that painted a portrait of his district and mirrored the narration of his speech. By bringing his words to life with familiar imagery and minimalist motion graphics and kinetic typography, his message is clear, memorable, and easy to connect with.
Taking a different tack, Melton wanted his event to embody his key campaign issue – multimodal transportation for a growing city and residents on the move. He called on attendees to bus, bike, or scooter to the event and wanted to capture this central part of his platform in action.
To translate the energy of his event into video, we aimed to go beyond recording Melton and the attendees talking about and using alternative transportation throughout the evening.
We also wanted to exemplify the theme of “multimodal” by using multiple types of footage: b-roll of transportation options and people enjoying it, on-the-street-style interviews and testimonials, immersive event footage, straightforward footage of Melton speaking, drone footage, and the traditional direct-to-camera shot of Melton sharing his key message (a hallmark of political campaign videos that we also used with Knight).
Both candidates not only got a final cut to use on their various marketing channels, but also hours of quality event footage that they can use in myriad ways.
In addition, Knight requested a second cut that covered his running announcement specifically, while Melton asked for a cut of just his speech for him to review with the goal of continually improving his public speaking.
Though their events served the same purpose, the unique visions of these leaders for their communities were evident in how they hosted them. And so the videos followed suit, acting not in service of the event, but in service of the message that makes the event relevant to their audience.
Project Highlights
Video Format: Event, constituent testimonial, expert interview
Production Features: On-location shoot, motion graphics, drone footage
We used light but high-impact crew and equipment for both events to allow for fly-on-the-wall documentation that also yields high production value footage.
In post-production for Knight’s video, we embraced the traditional format of campaign videos: the first section conveys the message with supporting imagery, the second section builds trust with testimonials, and the third section recaps and reinforces the message with a direct-to-camera shot of the candidate speaking to the viewer.
For Melton’s video, we leveraged a subtle hand-held aesthetic in the event b-roll to give the slightest implication of movement, replicating the point of view of an event attendee and immersing the viewer in the world of the video.
For Melton’s video, we also used drone footage for the final shot to provide context: to place the event within the city and, by extension, the issue within the broader community conversation.
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